𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇

welcome to the surface

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disclaimer: go to aesthetics before reading this chapter or read the note if you read "aesthetics" before this chapter was posted

note: all of the kids leave in the city of Bellmor (fictional place). The rich part of the city is Swyncoast.

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Chase

My mind was woken up by a shrill sound that echoed loudly in my ears. As a response, I rolled my body, still dressed in yesterday's clothes, on top of the duvet, lying on my stomach. Everything around me was blurred for a few brief seconds while that muffled sound was getting louder and louder. Until I felt it. My head ached as if it was on fire. That's when you realize that all the pain and all the feelings will suffocate you one more time. It's when your body is finally capable of feeling it all again, as if you are returning to the surface but the oxygen you inhale is asphyxiating you. And that moment always comes, no amount of whisky can put it off. It was a cycle. All of it. And I was now trapped in it.

After many failed attempts to reach the mobile phone on the bedside table, with my face still crushed in the pillow, I finally managed to answer it and put it on speaker.

"Goodmorning, sunshine!" - a cheerful voice greeted me on the other end of the line. It was her.

"What do you want Camila?" - I grumbled, coughing, with a raspy voice.

"Make sure you don't mess yourself up and still go to school!"

"Hum! And what made you think I'm not capable of waking up on my own and sticking to my schedule?" - I enquired while rubbing my eyes. The sun was so strong today! Who do you want to fool, Chase? You're hungover, that's what it is.

"You crossing the block at 30 kilometers per hour and still hitting the gate of your house!" - I almost forgot she was there. And honestly, it seemed like she was talking so fast that my brain didn't pick up the information until two or  three seconds later.

I rubbed a hand over my forehead, trying to relieve the feeling of heaviness that still persisted. My eyes closed involuntarily, all that light was blinding me completely.

"I wasn't driving at 30 kilometers per-"

"Shut up! I'm outside and I have coffee!" - I knew without a doubt that she was rolling her eyes while saying it.

"Fine!" - I gave in.

Camila was my neighbor. She lived across the street. Her father was a lawyer who worked for well-known companies in Bellmor, such as DLough, Damian's father's network of companies, where he handled the legal paperwork. He also worked for my father at Hawekrs Tech. It was probably his contacts with influential men from Swyncoast that led him to come and live here, not because he could afford the living cost on his own. The truth is that behind big names there is always corruption, and DLough in particular is not known for equating the salaries of its employees with the quality of their work, quite the opposite. Although Damian is my best friend, and completely different from his father, I can't deny that Howard De Loughrey is a man with a dirty history. With a big empire, but a tarnished name.

The Van Dorens bought the house opposite when I was five. I remember my mum dragging me there with freshly baked biscuits to welcome them. That and forcing me to be nice to their daughter, Camila. I've met her all my life but we got into different friend groups when we went to high school, mainly because she's one year younger than me. When we were kids we were together all the time. Sometimes I miss those days when everything was easy, when we were innocent and life was all about laughter, fantasy and fighting over stupid things in my backyard. Yes, because Camila Van Doren was a lady of reason, ever since she was a little girl! I kept paying attention to her, from a distance, at the parties and in school, obviously. We still talked, thought. I guess we were "friends", after all. Well, most of the time. We had a love-hate relationship since then but deep down we cared about one another, we were just too stubborn to admit it.